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The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

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Congressional Redistricting Thrown Out

April 27, 2022 By eastwickpress Leave a Comment

The Court of Appeals, New York State’s highest court, has thrown out the Congressional Redistricting map drawn up by the state legislature and signed into being by Governor Kathy Hochol, as improperly drawn and gerrymandered to benefit the Democratic party. The mapping, as it stands prior to today’s decision, would have favored Democrats in 22 of the state’s 26 districts.

The lower court ruling, upheld by the Court of Appeals, orders the state legislature to come up with new maps by April 30 or leave it to a so called master to draw up. Today’s decision brings into question the State’s June 28th primary date, possibly pushing back to sometime in August.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

County Sponsored Drug Take Back Events

April 27, 2022 By eastwickpress Leave a Comment

Rensselaer County is sponsoring a series of prescription drug take-backs at seven locations across the county to help safely remove unwanted drugs from circulation, County Executive Steve McLaughlin, Sheriff Pat Russo and Chairwoman of the Legislature Kelly Hoffman announced.

The drug take-back will be held this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., county officials announced. Public Health Director Mary Fran Wachunas and Department of Mental Health Commissioner Katherine Alonge-Coons are also supporting the take-back day.

April 30 is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, and supported by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

“There have been so many tragedies because of drug abuse in our county and across upstate. Having opportunities to safely dispose of unused or unwanted prescription drugs helps provide an important defense in our fight against drug abuse,” said County Executive McLaughlin.

“We are committed to safely removing as many prescription drugs as possible to help prevent the drugs from falling into the wrong hands and causing harm. These events have been effective in recent years and our county is united in this fight,” said Sheriff Pat Russo.

“The past take-back events in Rensselaer County have been busy and successful in removing many prescription drugs from homes and neighborhoods. We appreciate the support of our law enforcement partners in coordinating safe collection and disposal of these drugs,” said Chairwoman of the Legislature Kelly Hoffman.

Collection Sites Include:

East Greenbush Police Department

225 Columbia Turnpike, Rensselaer, NY 12144

 

Schodack Police Department

At Walgreens, 1645 Columbia Turnpike, Castleton, NY 12033

 

Village of Hoosick Falls Police Department

24 Main Street, Hoosick Falls, NY 12090

 

North Greenbush Police Department

133 Bloomingrove Drive, Troy, NY 12180

 

City of Troy Police Department

55 State Street, Troy, NY 12180

 

Rensselaer County Sheriff

At West Sand Lake Fire Department, 3697 NY 43, West Sand Lake, NY 12196

 

Rensselaer Police Department

At North End Fire House, 2 St. Francis Place, Rensselaer, NY 12144

Filed Under: Rensselaer County

Hoosick Falls PFOA Settlement Update

April 27, 2022 By eastwickpress Leave a Comment

Per Lead Attorney Steve Schwarz

 

The Class Action Settlement with defendants Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, Honeywell and 3M has now been approved by the Court and funded. More than 2,500 claims have been filed for one or more of the classes. All Claim Forms filed are being processed and verified by the General Administrator, KCC. This process is expected to take 60-90 days. If there are deficiencies found in any of the Claim Forms that can be corrected with additional information, KCC will contact claimants by email or mail. Claimants will not be contacted unless there is a deficiency in your claim.  If the claim was filed electronically through the website, an email confirmation with a number assigned beginning with the letters SIK should have been received between minutes thereafter.  If someone filed electronically but  did not receive such a confirmation email, they should immediately contact EMMA DUGGAN (212- 558-5677; eduggan@weitzlux.com) OR STEVE SCHWARZ (585-399-6035; sschwarz@faraci.com) as soon as possible. If the claim was filed by regular mail, no automatic confirmation was sent out.  If a claimant that filed by mail wishes to verify that the claim was received and is being processed, they can also contact Emma or Steve for verification.

The Medical Monitoring Program that will be available to members of the Medical Monitoring Class is being set up.  Medical Monitoring Class members will receive communications from the Court Appointed Medical Monitoring Administrator, Edgar Gentle, III with information on how to make an appointment for your initial entry into the program.  We expect this to happen sometime in the next 90 days.

The Property Damage Class Claim verification for these classes requires documentation that each claimant owned the property at the time the contamination was discovered.  In some cases, multiple claims have been filed for the same property address, and these need to be reconciled to assure that the actual property owner at the time the contamination was discovered receives the benefit.  Once all Claim Forms have been processed and the eligibility of all class members verified, KCC will apportion the $20,700,000 allocated to the Public Water and Private Well Property Damage Classes by multiplying this amount by a fraction with the 2015 Full Market Value as determined by the Town of Hoosick Tax Assessor forming the numerator of the fraction and the sum of all Full Market Values of eligible class member properties forming the denominator.  This calculation determining the amount each Class Member will receive cannot be performed until all Claim Forms are processed and verified.

The Nuisance Damage Class Nuisance Class eligibility requires proof that the class member was the owner or renter of a property with a contaminated private well at the time the contamination was discovered.  Because the law and the settlement require an eligible class member to have a legal interest in the property (ownership or a lease) others living in the home at the time the contamination was discovered are not eligible.  Many people did not understand this requirement and filed claims on behalf of other household members who will not be eligible.  Like the Property Damage Classes, the amount each eligible member of this class will receive cannot be determined until all claims have been processed and verified.

The General Administrator and Class Counsel appreciate that eligible class members are anxious to receive their benefits and also anxious to receive information about when checks will be issued.  The General Administrator, with the assistance of Class Counsel, is moving as expeditiously as possible to complete the claims review process and issue payments to eligible members.

Filed Under: Hoosick Falls

Cox Guilty of Second Degree Murder of a Child

April 27, 2022 By eastwickpress Leave a Comment

Submitted by the Rensselaer County District Attorney’s Office

Following a nearly two-week long trial, a Rensselaer County Court Jury on Wednesday, April 27, convicted 42-year old Kevin Cox on two counts of Murder in the Second Degree and one count of Assault in the First Degree. The charges stem from the February 11, 2020 death of six-year-old Davonte Paul of Lansingburgh.

District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly confirmed that according to the evidence, Davonte was found after a 911 call by his mother stating that he had drowned in the bath tub, although no water was found in the child’s lungs.

“As proven at trial, Cox punished the child by forcing him to sit outside on a snow covered deck on a blisteringly cold February night. Cox left Davonte outside for hours which directly caused his death. This was a heartbreaking case and I applaud the jurors who sat through the difficult testimony and viewed evidence of the death of this child,” said District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly.

Cox will be sentenced on May 18 before County Court Judge Debra Young and faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

Filed Under: Troy

Fatal Accident in Poestenkill

April 22, 2022 By eastwickpress Leave a Comment

On Thursday evening, April 21, around 10:39 pm, the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office responded to a two-car personal injury motor vehicle accident on NY 355 ( Main Street) in the town of Poestenkill. Upon arrival, responding units observed a blue 2008 Honda Civic with significant front-end damage, with an occupant (driver) entrapped inside the vehicle. Responding units also observed a white 2018 GMC pickup truck, with heavy front drivers-side damage, and the driver outside of the vehicle.

First aid was rendered to the driver of the Honda Civic by deputies, until ALS arrived on scene. The driver of the Honda Civic was extracted and transported to Samaritan Hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.

The driver of the white 2018 GMC, Dylan Densmore, 26, of Poestenkill, was arrested on scene and charged with:

  • PL 125.12 – Vehicular Manslaughter in the 2nd Degree (Class D Felony)
  • VTL 1192.2 – DWI (Unclassified Misdemeanor)
  • VTL 1192.3 – DWI (Unclassified Misdemeanor)
  • VTL 1120 – Failure to keep right (Infraction)

Densmore was arraigned in East Greenbush Town Court by the Honorable Judge Jessica Mocerine and was remanded to the Rensselaer County Jail with no bail, set to re-appear in court on Monday, April 25.

We would like to thank the New York State Police, Poestenkill Fire Department, Mohawk Ambulance, and the West Sand Lake Fire Department for their assistance during this tragic event.

Filed Under: Poestenkill

PFOA’s Found In Stephentown Trailer Park

April 18, 2022 By eastwickpress Leave a Comment

A mobile home park in Stephentown has been cited for exceeding the state maximum contaminant level for PFOA, the Rensselaer County Health Department announced today.

The Mountain View Park public water system has a level of 10.75 parts per trillion at well 1 and a level of 12.5 ppt at well 2. The state maximum contaminant level as outlined in state Sanitary Code is 10 parts per trillion.

Located on State Route 22, the Mountain View Park includes approximately 80 mobile homes.

A written notification has been sent to residents in all mobile homes in the large park regarding the discovery of the elevated PFOA level, said county health officials.

“We have taken the necessary action to inform residents of the situation and to provide owners of Mountain View Park with steps to improve the situation,” said Public Health Director Mary Fran Wachunas.

“The town has been informed of the situation at Mountain View, and is working with the county and other parties to protect public health. We will work jointly with the county to provide more information to the public when it becomes available,” said Town Supervisor PJ Roder.

The steps required of Mountain View Park, as detailed in state Sanitary Code, include a public notice to all customers of the park’s water district, hiring a consulting engineer within 30 days to perform a feasibility study, and submission of the feasibility study within 90 days to the Health Department.

Filed Under: Stephentown

Child Drowns in Schaghticoke

April 18, 2022 By eastwickpress Leave a Comment

On Sunday, April 17, at approximately 7:08 pm, Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Deputies

responded to a call for a missing three-year-old child from Oakhurst Street in Pleasantdale,town of Schaghticoke. Following intense searching by First Responders and members of the surrounding community, the missing child was located unresponsive, in a swimming pool on the property from which he was reported missing. First Aid was immediately provided on scene, and the child was transported to Samaritan Hospital, but was unfortunately unable to be revived. The death has been determined to be an accidental drowning.

We are extremely saddened by this tragic event, and ask that the public continue to pray for this family as they grieve the unimaginable loss of their child.

We would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance on scene; New York State Police, Troy Police Department, Troy Fire Department, Hoosic Valley Rescue, Pleasantdale Fire Department, and Rensselaer County 911. We are also grateful to over 100 members of the community who came out to assist in the search.

No further details are available at this time.

Filed Under: Schaghticoke

GLSP Mass Food Giveaway

April 15, 2022 By eastwickpress Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Grafton

NYS Lt. Governor Arrested

April 12, 2022 By eastwickpress Leave a Comment

According to the New York Times and WNBC in New York City, Lt. Governor Brian Benjamin has been arrested on campaign finance fraud-related charges  and is expected to appear in Manhattan Federal Court later today

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Uncle Sam Parking Garage Coming Down

April 7, 2022 By eastwickpress Leave a Comment

A long time stable in Troy, now closed because it has fallen into disrepair , the Uncle Same Parking Garage is slated to be torn down within the next couple of months, according to City Council President Carmella Mantello. Large concrete portions of the structure starting falling down when the garage was used by the NYS Labor Department for parking when they had offices in the Troy Atrium.

Ms. Mantello does not have a problem with the structure being demolished, what concerns her is that it becomes just a large hole in the ground in the middle of the city. The Council President tells The Eastwick Press “I have requested the planning commission (director) ensure landscaping, trees and that the location is clean and safe while they put together their plans to redevelop the site. Also I don’t want it to sit idle and a hole at the gateway of the city and the bond should be the developer present a plan before the planning commission within one year.”

Filed Under: Troy

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